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High flying Tigers should eye ODI series win against Lankans

DHAKA, March 20, 2017 (BSS) - The memories of the woeful performance at Galle could not have been erased any better than the stellar performances of Mushfique and co at the Colombo's P. Sara stadium on Sunday.

Former national team opening batsmen Ishtiaque Ahmad paid rich tribute to Tigers while taking to BSS on Monday and later urged them to go in high spirit in the forthcoming One-Day Internationals against Sri Lanka beginning from March 25.

After suffering a crushing 259 runs defeat in the first Test at Galle, one thought Bangladesh would be lucky if they can avoid defeat in 2nd Test and would be happy if they can force a draw. But to be honest our Tigers as a team has grown up and now have learned to take everything in strides. The way they pull their socks up and put up a superlative performance with the chips down is absolutely amazing.

It was Test match cricket at its best and having beaten the home side that had triumphed the Aussies not too long back surely merits the highest praise and with this test match victory opens up the avenue for fans and critics alike that indeed the Bangladeshi players have gained invaluable experience in approaching Test match cricket and getting to know the nuances of the format a lot better.

A victory that surely ought to keep them in good stead, the Bangladesh team would be upbeat about their prospects during the one dayers, if not the T20's and would appropriately be contemplating on a series win.

The achievement of winning the Test be it the 100th or any other Test match was more in its means to an end and it was not for the first time that the single minded purpose was executed to perfection thus proving all and sundry that our boys are not only prepared to learn but also show it in no uncertain terms.

Quite frankly, a series draw Down Under would have been no less an accomplishment under such testing conditions and conditions that very few teams have actually gotten the better of.

Dominating sessions the better part of the Test matches and later on squandering those chances during the dying phases of the match leading up to inexplicable defeats was indeed heart wrenching.

The performance in India was also one of so close yet so far as our boys once again allowed the opposition to wrest the initiative from a virtual control as was evident during Mushfiqur Rahim's dismissal in the second day innings.

The recent test performances starting from the series against England and the just concluded series against Sri Lanka can best be said as team evolving as our boys may have left behind those days in which oppositions would wrap up a series within 2/3 days. Leaving our boys clueless not knowing what hit them before they could even get going.

The turnaround started pretty much after Mashrafe was given the reins to lead the side and instill the fighting spirit within the side that looked so lack luster after a series of defeats, even at the hands of Hong Kong and Afghanistan.

That the forthcoming one dayers and T20's are likely to be real thrillers and leaves no doubt in anybody's mind that the two sides are going to be at each otherís throat as if there was no tomorrow.